


Spark

by docmatthew



Series: The Stories of Young Henry Standing Bear & Walt Longmire [3]
Category: Longmire (TV), Walt Longmire Mysteries - Craig Johnson
Genre: Fireworks, Fluff, M/M, Pre-Canon, Stand Alone, teenagers in love, this is almost too cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-17
Updated: 2016-07-17
Packaged: 2018-07-24 15:59:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7514435
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/docmatthew/pseuds/docmatthew
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Walt and Henry take a small trip for the Fourth of July.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Spark

**Author's Note:**

  * For [the_widow_twankey](https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_widow_twankey/gifts).



> This is just fluff and self-indulgence. S/O to Bene (the_widow_twankey) for helping me write this (unknowingly) and spell checking my ass. This is part of a bigger series but it's a stand alone fic. So, you don't have to read the other stuff unless you want to.

 

The very mild seventy degree weather made the Fourth of July all that more enjoyable. The windows of the green ‘58 GMC Blue Chip were down and Walt let his arm rest on the open ledge. He had a pair of sunglasses covering his blue eyes even though the sun was going down quickly. He looked over at Henry as he drove, his long black hair tied back messily so it didn’t bother him with the wind. A small smile played at Walt’s lips as he looked at his friend, drinking in the sight.

They had decided spur of the moment to drive an hour away into the mountains for a camping trip. In the bed of the truck they had all their gear but more importantly they had fireworks and beer. Originally they planned to stay around town, maybe go to the ski basin for a party that was being held there, but Walt had admitted to wanting to get away and Henry couldn’t say no to a camping trip with his best friend.

“Do you plan to stare the whole way?” Henry asked without taking his eyes off the road. “You are missing all the beautiful scenery.”

“Don’t think I am.” Walt said back with a smirk and Henry rolled his eyes heavily.

“I am not a girl you have to woo, Walt,” he spoke with a hint of playfulness in his voice.

“Who said I was trying to woo you? I’m just trying to be honest.” Walt shrugged.

“You are oddly romantic at the most random moments,” Henry chuckled as he pulled onto a dirt road.

They fell into an easy silence where Walt spent most his time looking at Henry but sometimes looking out into the beautiful Wyoming landscape. Mostly he just wanted to make sure Henry was there. Their relationship extended beyond just friends but they had their base in friendship. Walt knew why he was with Henry. It went beyond any physical reason. Sure Henry was a good looking person but Walt fell in love with something different before he was even old enough to know what love truly was. That gleam in Henry’s eye, the one that said he knew something that Walt didn’t. That was what drew Walt to the Cheyenne boy. He wanted so badly to know what Henry knew. That happened when they were twelve and now when they were seventeen it was the same.

Thing was Walt had no idea why Henry was at all interested in him or why Henry had stuck around or even why Henry had kissed him back when they were thirteen. There were many things he didn’t fully understand about Henry but accepted on blind faith. This was something he accepted but often wondered about. If it weren’t for Henry then he would be cooped up in his bedroom reading _To Kill A Mockingbird_ or _The Great Gatsby_ for the twentieth time. Henry brought out the adventure in Walt, the fun and thriving boy that had been hidden under a lump of social anxiety, few words, and antisocial behavior. Henry made his heart beat double time and made him understand all those Jazz songs he played about love. But the question was always there...why did Henry choose him?

“I can hear you thinking over the wind,” Henry spoke up again, startling Walt out of his pondering.

“Do you know what I’m thinking about?” Walt questioned, squinting his eyes behind his sunglasses. Henry had a way of knowing his mind better than himself, sometimes even coming close to reading Walt’s mind.

“Hm…” Henry thought for a moment, glancing over at Walt. “Probably what you always think about when you have that look on your face.”

“Which is?” He wasn’t going to be giving any hints. He liked when Henry read his mind.

“I believe you are still wondering ‘why I picked you’, as you put it, to be friends with.” Henry said, getting it right on the money.

“I hate that you knew that.” Walt frowned, pretending to find it distasteful.

“That is a lie. I thought you were trying to be honest.” Henry smirked at him and Walt shook his head, his wild blonde hair tickling his face from the movement and wind.

“Two things. You’ve never actually told me why, and is ‘friend’ really an accurate term at this point?” Walt raised an eyebrow and pushed his bangs out of his eyes. His hair wasn’t nearly as long as Henry’s but it was shaggy and hung over his eyes if he let it.

“You think too much.” Henry declared as he drove them towards their campsite. “I did not ‘pick you’. We came together.”

“Over a kid’s misunderstanding at a water fountain? Sounds to me like Fate has too much time on her hands.” He smirked. Pulling Henry into a Philosophical conversation or debate was a favorite pastime.

“Fate is not the word I would use, Walt.” Henry leaned forward a little to look ahead as he tried to seek out where he needed to turn next. His hair fell in the way of his face for a moment and Walt marvelled at the picture before him.

“...Uh, then what word would you use?” Walt pulled himself back to the conversation and licked his lips since he suddenly had a dry mouth. He wondered for a second if Henry knew the affect he had over him.

“Fate is controlled. We have no say in it.” Henry explained. “What I feel we have is destiny. We were meant to find each other. Over a childish dispute at a drinking fountain or otherwise,” he explained in an even tone as they took another turn. “I believe that we need each other and that is why we came together, out of everything and everyone in this world...we are made for each other. In this life or any other” Henry pulled them into an area to make camp. “Here.”

Walt smiled gently at the explaination. He liked the idea that the universe brought them together because they needed each other and that they would have each other in this life or the next. It also answered his question on ‘why Walt’ but it opened a new question. Why did _Henry_ need _him_? What did Walt bring to the table that Henry needed because he knew exactly all the things Henry brought to him. It was a complicated conversation and he figured they could have it at a later time.

“Let us get camp set up then we will drink and play with explosives.” Henry grinned as he climbed out of the truck.

Walt followed his friend out of the truck. He went around back and got out the tent while Henry got out what they needed for a fire ring. They had this spot. It was theirs in some way. Their typical camping spot where they had many firsts together, many good memories and moments Walt would look back on in his darkest times to remember the light. The little sight was on the Powder River, in National Park territory. It was nice clearing that had a grove on one side, the road in, and then the river. The area wasn’t well travelled because it wasn’t a tourist spot. A person would have to know where to look to find it.

The tent was built with ease since it was the same tent they had been using since they were twelve. Walt was thinking about getting a new one since they were starting to outgrow this one. He had to fold his long limbs into the tent but Henry still had some growing room since he hadn’t gotten very tall yet. Walt’s bulky body also took up a lot of room in there and Henry’s thin frame didn’t. Luckily they didn’t mind sleeping close, possibly even cuddling. Walt secretly hoped it would get colder during the night so he would have an excuse to get closer to Henry, who was always warm. Not that Walt really needed an excuse.

Quick work was made of the fire ring Henry put together. The rock circle was made then a shallow hole dug where he built a hybrid frame for the fire and easily lit the fire with a flint. Walt was still always amazed by how easy Henry could light a fire with flint instead of matches, which is what Walt tended to use.

With everything set up they pulled down the tailgate of the truck, pulled the ice chest forward and got out the first beers. They weren’t of legal age but Mr. Little Bird didn’t mind selling to them when they came in. Walt cracked open the first Rainier can with a happy little sigh that made Henry smile at him.

“You get too much enjoyment out of this beer.” Henry commented as he opened his own.

“Mountain fresh,” Walt mumbled as he took the first sip. “It’s good.”

“It is cheap.” Henry grinned as he took his first drink as well.

“That too.” Walt nodded and slipped off his sunglasses. The sun had gone mostly down now and there was only a low red and yellow hue left in the sky. It really was a beautiful image.

Again Walt found himself looking Henry over instead of the beautiful scenery. In the truck he had been so focused on Henry’s hair and facial features he hadn’t taken a moment to look anywhere else. When he checked him over Walt noticed that he had on a soft, faded red t-shirt with a pocket on the front that had a few threads loose. The shirt seemed to be two sizes too big and Walt wondered why he didn’t notice earlier that Henry was wearing _his_ shirt. A spark of arousal hit him at seeing that. Walt licked his lips and took a drink quickly. Henry was smirking a little and Walt figured he knew that Walt had just realized the ownership of the shirt.

“Let’s start with the fireworks.” Walt quickly said as he reached back to find the small bag of fireworks they brought. Nothing big since they were on National Park turf.

Together they fished out which thing they wanted to do first. There were the sparkly fountains and roman candles. The small stuff that was just fun to look out. As they came to the end of the bag Walt found sparklers and chuckled.

“Seems our grand finale is going to be sparklers.” He held up the small box of the fireworks and Henry took them out of his hand.

“I enjoy these.” Henry commented as he opened up the box. “I remember loving them as a child. I would always attempt to write my name in the light.”

“Me too.” Walt nodded as he was handed a sparkler.

Together they moved closer to the river where the light from the fire wouldn’t hinder the sparkling. Henry lit his own stick and held it to Walt’s to light. The sparkler jumped to life and he held it up and started writing his name with a small smile on his lips. When he looked over at Henry he stopped and stared.

The jumpy glow of the sparkler lit up Henry’s face in a golden light, and his eyes shone with the sparks. Walt found the moment to be one of his favorites and willed himself to remember this forever. He moved forward in one fluid motion and pulled Henry closer to him by the front of that red t-shirt.

As the sparklers reached the end of their lifespan Walt kissed Henry slowly. His eyes slid shut and he smiled against his best friend’s lips. Henry was grinning too. They stood there on the banks of the Powder River kissing like they had to communicate all their feelings for each other all at once. The hand that wasn’t holding the dead sparkler slipped around Walt’s neck to bring him closer. There was a few inches in a height gap since Henry had yet to reach his grow spurt but Walt had three years ago. Walt’s own arm wrapped around Henry and pulled him flush against his front.

It was the most perfect moment Walt had ever experienced. In that moment it did not matter about fate, destiny, why they were together or stuck together. No, in this moment as they held each other and exchanged passion they were infinite. Walt held onto to that feeling and that moment. It was one of those moments that people said only happened in books and movies but now Walt knew it only took the right person to make those moments a reality.


End file.
